Center for Excellence in Distance Learning at Wiley College Selects Preferred LMS for HBCU
The Center for Excellence in Distance Learning (CEDL) at Wiley College, leader of the alliance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), has selected a learning management system (LMS) for its online courses.
The CEDL was looking for an LMS that would let students access course materials easily, so faculty could focus on teaching rather than helping students navigate the system. They also wanted something that supported mobile devices and integration with other systems. The center evaluated numerous options before selecting Canvas from Instructure. "The learning curve is not as steep compared to competing learning management systems (LMSs) on the market," said Kim Cliett Long, director of the CEDL at Wiley College, in a prepared statement.
The CEDL at Wiley College is a membership organization that helps HBCUs use open educational resources (OER) to develop online education courses and programs in high enrollment subjects. Members of the CEDL can adopt and adapt the courses to fit the learning outcomes and instructional style of their institution. Lumen Learning provides courseware and support to help each institution use OER effectively. According to Instructure, this partnership between the CEDL at Wiley College and Instructure establishes the Canvas LMS as the "preferred model for the HBCU of the 21st Century.".
"Since establishing the Center for Excellence in Distance Learning, Wiley College has been forging a collaborative path for HBCUs to take advantage of the benefits of open education," said Haywood L. Strickland, president and CEO of Wiley College, in a prepared statement. "As the HBCU community strives to retain its relevance and thrive in the 21st century, technologies that support openness, like Canvas, will play a crucial role."
Current CEDL members include Wiley College, Oakwood University, Florida Memorial University, Talladega College and Jarvis Christian College. The CEDL plans to implement the Canvas LMS for all online courses offered at Wiley College beginning in the spring semester of 2015.
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Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].